Mega Man: Robot On the Run
by MegaManOntheRun
Summary: This is an AU, stemming off the events of Mega Man 7. What if Rock did fire? He's living life on the run, finding new places and trying to escape the authorities who are after him for breaking the Laws of Robotics. It's time to fight for neverending chaos.
1. The Criminal Child

**Part 1: The Criminal Child**

The deed was done.

In his blaze of pure, unadulterated anger, Mega Man fired the Buster Blast, ultimately killing Dr. Wily.

As he stood over the professor's lifeless body, breathing heavily with his anger, Bass and Treble teleported in, and looks of shock and fear were expressed.

"M-mMega Man, you..." Bass shook his head, his crimson eyes becoming large with fear at the angered child and the dead scientist. "You... a tiny twerp like you... did that?!"

Mega Man looked up, the negativity he'd locked up for years finally spilling over and showing in his cerulean eyes, his very movements. He remained silent, apart from his soft panting. Before he turned away, became a blob of blue light, and took off.

Bass was far too shocked to even try and follow. His creator, the one person he could trust, was dead.

Killed at the hands of a ten year old.

**With Mega Man...**

The first thing he did when he reappeared in a forest, several miles away, was lean against an old oak tree, trying to clear his thoughts and feelings. Everything was going too fast, too fast, too fast.

"_What have I done?!"_

"_It was for the better."_

"_I AM MORE THAN A ROBOT!"_

"_The authorities are going to come and scrap me now!"_

"_Father would never forgive me."_

"N-NO! SHUT UP, SHUT UP, **SHUT UP!**" Mega Man screamed as several voices in his head began to argue. Pressing his hands against his head, he began to cry as he tried his hardest to make sense of what was going on, what he'd done. He'd murdered in cold blood, and for his crime against a human, he was going to be destroyed.

_**Bleep bleep, bleep bleep!**_

Somebody was calling him through the tiny com link in his helmet. With shaking hands, he pressed his fingers against the touch sensor on his left ear cover that served as the answer button.

It was Dr. Light.

"Rock, where are you? Did you stop Wily?" His father's voice came over the com.

Mega Man froze immediately as he tried to think of an answer. His mouth was dry and although he was fairly sure that couldn't be sick, he felt nauseated. Finally, he spluttered out a trembling "I'm sorry father!" and cut the line. Next, he took off his helmet, found a nearby boulder and smacked the left side off of it until he was sure that the com link and tracker were offline. It was battered when he was done, but it still fitted fine so he put it on nonetheless.

Everything he'd done as a hero was tarnished. Soon, the whole world would know Mega Man as a heartless, thoughtless killer. It hurt him so badly to know that his negative emotions were leading him down a dark route, it stabbed him so hard that right there, in the lonely forest, he let out a loud, long cry. His only choice of survival was flight, to never go home and see his family ever again, to know that the authorities were on his tail.

"_Maybe it's just better to let them catch and kill me like some kind of prey."_

He'd heard stories of rouge bots. They'd had endings like spikes pushed through their power supply, or locked up to run out of energy and never be reactivated, or to be disassembled and watch as they became the bolts and screws that once made them.

All three of these ideas terrified him, and he found himself shaking in fear, a cold sweat seeping through his skin.

"_You get caught and the spikes are going through your chest, Rock." _The inner voice whispered softly.

That specific idea, one of his fears actually, made him feel really, really queasy. Almost as if he was going to be sick.

Wait-

"Oh no..."

He could feel something inside him turning dangerously...

"Oh no no no no...!" Looking around in a desperate panic with his hands clamped over his mouth, Mega Man found a nearby bush, ran over and kneeled down. Around a minute later, he started retching loudly and trying his best to keep everything down, but there was a heavy jolt from his midsection and he hurled half absorbed E-Tank fluid into the bush. He then lay back, breathing slowly to try and settle his stomach.

"_Well. Guess I can be sick." _Was his immediate thought.

His tummy's reaction was to go crazy again, so he rolled over and crawled to the bush for cover. Mega Man heaved loudly a few more times, artificial spit sliding out of his mouth before more E-fluid came up and was deposited in the bush.

"_What is... wrong with me? I've never felt so horrible in my life!" _Mega Man asked himself as he pulled himself into a kneeling position. He'd lost his mind, murdered a person, ran to the forest, started an argument with the voices in his head, cut contact with his family and now was throwing up out of nerves.

After he hurled once more, there was nothing left to come up so he stood up, feeling dizzy and drained, both physically and emotionally. There was a bitter taste in his mouth but he couldn't do anything about that when it was obvious he couldn't keep anything down. So he started to walk. Nowhere in particular. All he knew was that it was away from home.

He was going on the run. Starting anew, with no possessions, no relations and to the unknowing public, no history.

And just to be safe...

He transformed into Rock Light, so it would be harder for anyone outside the city he once called home to recognise him. To the world, he was nothing but a simple and innocent child, not a heartless killer.

Not that he was sure if he was either.

What was he really? An insane murdering machine who claimed to be "more than a robot"? A hero, who'd saved the lives of many, many people? A young child, brought into this world to be an assistant and a son? There were so many things he was known as, and none of them seemed to fit anymore. Like a puzzle piece, damaged and torn. Where it had once gone no longer fitted it.

**Dr. Light's Lab...**

"Rock! Rock, come in!" Dr. Light yelled frantically. All he'd heard for the past five minutes was white noise. Roll stood next to him, wishing that her brother would answer.

His location had disappeared off the trackers, which was a worrying sign. Plus, he wasn't answering his com.

An idea lay at the back of Dr. Light's mind, an idea that he always feared but knew would happen eventually. Was Rock, his youngest son and little hero truly... gone? Had he been killed by whatever Wily had set up? Or he was trying to go home, wounded and had fallen to fatigue?

"_I'm sorry, father!"_

That was what had last been said by Rock.

"Rock... Please son, answer me!" Dr. Light tried the com once more. Nothing. So, finally giving up for the evening, he set the headphones down and went into the living room. Roll followed after, silent and scared.

Maybe the news knew something, anything?

So Dr. Light switched on the TV. Nothing, the channel was packed up for the evening.

Nobody knew.

**That's it for Robot On the Run today. We'll see how Rock fairs later. After all, he's already starting to regret his recent choices...**


	2. Close Calls

**Chapter Two: Close Calls**

It had been a few hours since Rock made the biggest mistake of his life.

Currently, the child was traipsing through the forest at midnight, sniffling softly. He was exhausted, and still slightly woozy from having been heavily sick earlier. Owls flew overhead as he walked, twooing softly.

"I'm never going back, I can't, there's nowhere to go..." he thought quietly as he looked up at the sky. Dark circles had started to form under his tired eyes and he couldn't help but stumble, so he knew he had to sleep. Climbing up a tree and hoping not to fall down and hurt himself, Rock clung to a branch like a baby monkey and slowly drifted off, alert to the slightest of noises.

He managed to get a few hours rest before he heard shouting, and saw flashlights waving around. Whatever it was, it was following the footprints he'd been foolish enough to leave.

"Oh goodness...!" he whispered as he shimmied up the branch he'd been sleeping on.

The group came underneath the tree he was on. There were several police bots and... a furious Bass. Of course he'd tag along. He wanted to get the enjoyment of seeing Rock die.

"The tracks stop here. That little-" Bass yelled the nastiest combination of cuss words he knew. "has to be around here somewhere!"

Rock shivered upon hearing what Bass called him. Too nasty for young ears like his.

Unfortunately, it was this shiver that made Bass look up, spot him and yell "HE'S THERE! UP THE TREE!"

Immediately, he panicked and climbed higher, but his shirt was caught on a branch, and so tore whilst he scratched his chest badly trying to escape. A couple of the bots started to follow up after him, and Rock yelled loudly, before looking around. He couldn't go any higher... but he could try and leap to the next tree!

Bracing himself for the jump, he took a deep breath, then stood up with a wobble, darted forward and leapt. He reached out for the next branch and grabbed it...

And his hand slipped and he fell to the ground.

There was a nasty sounding crack as he landed on his elbow, and a sharp pain shot through his left arm.

Through tears and screams, Rock looked up to see the bots and Bass advancing. He was going to die right there if he didn't do anything.

So he did what came naturally.

Rock stumbled to his feet, before blue light flashed and he transformed into Mega Man. He then fired up the Buster on his uninjured arm, and pointed it threateningly. "Get any closer and I'll fire!"

The police bots seemed to hesitate, looking at Bass, who urged them to grab Mega Man. One bot came right over to the child, and grabbed him by the back of his neck, lifting him into the air.

A tear trailed down Mega Man's cheek, before he started growling and thrashing wildly. "Let go of me! LET GO!" he yelled, his anger starting to flare up again. Not as badly as the first time, but he knew if they didn't let go soon, _something _was gonna get hurt.

Somewhere, he could hear Bass saying "Great job. Now, may I have the honours of ending its pathetic little life?"

It? Pathetic?

That was it. He snapped, right there and then.

Mega Man let out a scream and lashed out, striking the bot who was holding onto him, thus meaning they let go. Next, he charged up his Buster and started firing wildly. Immediately, he struck down two of the police bots. The remaining three backed off, and Bass stood there, wide eyed. Not for long though, as he activated _his _Buster and began firing at Mega Man.

The two ran in circles, shooting at each other with no luck, until Mega Man slipped on the damp ground of the forest and landed on his injured arm. He felt that if it hadn't been broken before, it certainly was now. Before the Blue Bomber could roll away, solar powered hellfire rained down on him, burning his chest, arms, legs, face and stomach.

Mega Man lay there, tears flowing down his face, his chest hurting with the effort of aspirating. His weak gasps and cries of pain as he tried to move were all the noises he was making. He could barely keep his eyes open as sparks erupted from his core. He watched through his glassy eyes as Bass advanced towards him, his Buster pointed. "Say 'goodbye', little bot blue!" Bass chuckled as he started to charge up the finishing blow.

Mega Man's armour deactivated, and he became Rock Light again. More tears ran down his face as he rasped "I'm... sorry...". He wanted to sit up but his limbs felt like lead and he was so weak. Everything was swaying slightly and the world sounded distant... as his eyes started to close over, his systems beginning to shut down, he could hear two male voices screaming at each other and some more Buster Blasts. Everything sounded deafeningly silent, then footsteps. Somebody lifted his head up in their hands. _"ROCK! C'mon little brobot, you CANNOT die on me!"_

The voice was so distant and hazy...

Something pulled on his shirt, unlatched the panel on his chest and started fiddling with his core. That was the last thing he felt before blacking out.

...

"Rock!"

That voice sounded so familiar, and yet slightly unknown to him. He coughed weakly and clenched his fists as he tried his best to open his eyes. His left arm was numb and felt limp and trembly.

"Oh my god, you're alive!" The voice sounded overjoyed. "I can't believe that actually worked!"

He very shakily lifted his right arm a little, and he felt a hand grip his own, rubbing some warmth into his cold fingers.

"Brobot, never scare me like that again...!"

Rock managed to slowly open his eyes. It was still dark, and he was still lying on the forest floor. He turned his head and gasped a little when he saw who was holding onto his hand. There, kneeling in the damp moss next to him, was his older brother, Blues. His scarf wasn't wrapped around his neck like usual, and Rock realised that it was his ownneck, giving him a little warmth against the biting wind.

"B... Blues?" Rock asked, sitting up gingerly. Blues frowned and pushed him back down to a lying position. His pain receptors were starting to reactivate, and the wounds he'd received in his fight with Bass were beginning to hurt badly. He grimaced and let out a quiet groan of pain. "Blues... Blues, what happened?"

The Red Renegade handed his little brother an E-Tank. "You were fighting Bass, and you lost. Your core had shut off and you... you were dying, Rock." Blues' voice held a soft quivering sadness. "I d-don't want to lose you. You're the reason that so many innocent lives were saved."

Rock couldn't help but whimper. He swallowed his mouthful of E-Fluid. "And... and the loss of one life that never should have been lost." Rock felt his breathing hitch and he let out a sob. "Blues... Blues, I killed Wily...! I was completely out of control, and- and- and, I just.. that's why Bass was after me!" He felt yet another wave of tears starting to form. He didn't know how he could cry so much and still have tears left but, here he was.

Blues seemed to tense up. "You... you actually did it?"

Rock nodded.

Blues didn't know what to say. The world was eradicated of a threat now but, somebody had lost their life. Eventually, he sighed. "I... suppose you're not coming back to the lab then."

**Well human beings, that's it for today. I'll release Chap. 3 soon, so keep an eye out for that.**


End file.
